Real Madrid Declare Media Silence

Real Madrid will boycott their pre-match press conference ahead of their game against Real Soceidad in protest over the refereeing decisions that went against them during their 1-1 draw with Villarreal on Wednesday night.

Real had two players sent off during the match which also saw manager Jose Mourinho and fitness coach Rui Faria sent to the stands by referee Jose Paradas Romero.

It’s in light of this that the club has decided not to hold the customary pre-match press conference today. Following the Wednesday scenario, Madrid trained behind closed doors Thursday and confirmed that neither Mourinho nor his assistant would be talking to the press today.

“Referees hurt us too much sometimes, but we must hold our heads high and move on,” Real defender Marcelo said.

“You saw what happened and how many of us were sent off.”

That said, Villarreal’s Angel Lopez believes Madrid have no reason to feel aggrieved.Responding to the comments made by both the players and the club’s administration, Lopez said that this was just another of Madrid’s antics as they try to put pressure on match officials ahead of their upcoming matches.

“We might argue that Lass [Diarra] should have been dismissed, or that we should have had a penalty when Nilmar was fouled, but you can’t do anything about it. As they say in my hometown, they can go cry in a park.

“It was fortunate for us yesterday that the referee had a strong personality. I’ve known him for many years and he sent me off in the past for the same thing Ozil did.”

Madrid have seen their 10 lead at the top of La Liga cut to just 6 after two consecutive draws and with 10 games still left to play, the warning bells are starting to sound for Los Blancos. It really would be a shame if Barca were to pip them to the title. That said, Madrid cannot afford to start panicking, at least not now. They are still still in the running for the double and their upcoming fixtures do favour them.